Wimp for Dinner

Last night, I had one of my nasty PMS headaches.  Since I’m an absolute wimp where medication is concerned, there is very little I can take for pain and still remain conscious.  You should have seen me battling the “low drowsiness” Dramamine™ this weekend.  Most likely I looked like a little kid trying to stay awake during naptime—dorky but determined.  To wander back to the point, I needed to make food but my head hurt too badly to do much cooking.  Luckily my mom had just sent a link to a blog post full of slow cooker recipe links.  Since I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is Cuban food and I had a chunk of beef in my fridge, I picked this recipe.  I didn’t have a bell pepper, so I rooted around in my canned goods until I found an acceptable substitute.  Here is my version of the recipe:

(Now Even Easier) Easy Slow Cooker Cuban Ropa Vieja

Beef chunk (approx 3 lbs, cut into 3-4 hunks, sprinkled all over with salt and black pepper)

1 yellow onion, chopped

14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

10 oz can Rotel™ diced tomatoes with green chilies (mild)

2 tsp minced garlic from a jar

3 small bay leaves

1 ½ tsp dried oregano

1 Tbsp cumin

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Add all ingredients except the beef to the slow cooker and stir to combine.  Place beef hunks on top and cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove beef to plate, allow to cool a bit then shred with forks.  Remove bay leaves and return beef to slow cooker.  Stir to combine beef with sauce.  Dig in and enjoy!  (Could be served with cauliflower rice or sweet potatoes.)

My apartment smelled completely amazing this morning, and I know that I will have a tasty dinner no matter what happens with this stupid headache.  I love recipes that are this easy to put together and turn out so yummy.  If you know of any others, put a link in the comments please!